Dunkin’ Donuts Tweets a Contest, But Misses the Mark to Upsell

Dunkin’ Donuts tweeted recently about a contest: “A bathtub of DD coffee? Naming a pet Dunkin’? How would u share ur fanDDemonium in The Ultimate DD Coffee Fan contest?

Followers submit a video showing why they deserve to be named the “The Ultimate Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee Fan.” One grand-prize winner gets a trip to Costa Rico to visit a coffee farm, 60 months of free coffee delivered to his or her door and other prizes. Ten first-prize winners get 12 months of coffee delivered to their homes.

Dunkin’ Donuts gets high marks in the design and functionality of the contest page. It includes all the information a contestant needs to understand how to enter: prize details (good placement at the top of the page), how it all works, the judging process, start and end dates and a link to the official rules. There’s also a link to “vote now,” “judging,” and a viral component, “invite friends.” A link to join Facebook helps Dunkin’ Donuts build its fan base.

But the brand missed an opportunity to drive its 60,000 followers deeper into its site. A small link at the top of the contest page “About DD” leads to a bland contact page and yet another link before they get to the home page where they finally discover they can shop online, enter other contests, buy a gift card or learn about the Maple Cheddar Breakfast Sandwich. Why not add some of this content to the contest page such as, links to the online store, other promotions, offerings and one-stops. This will keep fans clicking around your site and hopefully generate sales.

On another front, Dunkin’ Donuts also gets high marks for sending out tweets that sound like they came from you or me, personal, yet still a sales pitch: “Got my pumpkin donut and pumpkin latte, & just found out Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown is on the tube tonite. I love this time of year.”

Pumpkin donuts! Now that sounds like a tweet!